I now officially hate Governor Pawlenty. If anybody else is marching on the capitol, I'm there.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, it's an issue very close to my heart: Public transportation. This past year has found the introduction of the Hiawatha Light Rail line to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. It's a bunch faster than taking a bus and is lots of fun. It's almost as cool as a subway. But one stretch of track from downtown to the airport and the Mall of America hardly consists of a public transportation system, even when that system includes hundreds of bus routes.

In recent news, the system is under budget. Today it was announced that the proposed plans to put it on budget is to cut at least some part of 70% of the bus system. Some routes will be completely canceled, but some will be reduced.

This is no good at all. With the introduction of the our new rail line, people besides those without cars are finding that MetroTransit may actually be a viable way of getting around. If buses are running less often, that's not going to help. Plus, fares are probably going to be raised across the board, which is also no good.

Most of this is because of the fact that our stupid governor is getting paid off by Detroit or Iraq oil or something. He wants us to have to all drive around in our cars and pay outrageous prices for gas. If anything, right now the amount of money allotted to MetroTransit should go up so that they can expand their services. It would encourage ridership instead of discourage it. It's the only way that people besides the disabled and really poor are going to think about using buses for everyday tasks.